MOBILE, Alabama -- With the ink barely dry on European planemaker Airbus' commitment to build a $600 million assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama's commerce chief said patience will prove invaluable as the project's supply chain takes shape.

"It would be premature to expect (supplier contracts) because Airbus is still giving first priority to securing its integral service providers, but all early indications are that we're seeing some success. More importantly, we're beginning to learn who they're talking to, and then we're making contact with those companies ourselves," said Greg Canfield, Alabama's secretary of commerce.

Canfield also noted those watching the development should understand there are two distinct development timelines in play.

The first, he said, puts Mobile and Baldwin County at the nexus of the development where the initial push will be to cluster suppliers considered critical to the operation.

"Initially, that will mean anything in Mobile and Baldwin County and then anything north on I-65, possibly as far as Montgomery," Canfield said.

As the supply chain matures, however, project's impact will continue to expand geographically as supporting companies move in to serve not only Airbus but its suppliers.

"A supplier can only afford to have a physical presence if there's enough volume coming from the Mobile (assembly line) to support their capital investment, and that's going to take some time," he said.

The Alabama Department of Commerce has already established a core supply chain team that includes state economic development officials and local community leaders and local economic development organizations such as the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, the Mobile Airport Authority and the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance.

The strategy is two-fold, he said.

First, emphasis is placed on building awareness of Alabama as an aerospace industry destination to counterparts abroad by leveraging the Airbus relationship.

Indeed, from Berlin to Toulouse and Hamburg to Farnborough, the troupe has made the rounds of every trade show, supplier conference and aviation forum under the European sun since July, and the travels will continue well into November.

"We're targeting the natural supply chain for Airbus, and then we're educating that supply chain about the advantages for considering Alabama," Canfield said. "At the same time, we're working to identify the universe of known and potential companies as suppliers."